On - line essay
Impact of
Communication in Today’s World.
From generation to generation, communication has been part
of human nature, it is totally natural for a human being to live in a community
with others, where people could be able to communicate and speak to other
people. Communication is used to exchange information or ideas from sender to receiver;
Armaritei defined Communication as an information exchange and stands for an
essential need in people’s lives (Armaritei 2013, P. 279) but this is not
enough to say that there is communication between two or more people unless
there is feedback. Communication needs more than that, it involves ensuring the
process whereby the sender sends an encoded message through a medium to the
receiver; and the receiver then receives the message, decodes it and then sends
feedback. The word ‘communication’ is used in common talk, usually to mean
speaking or writing or sending a message to another person. (Urmila & Rai,
2009, p.1) argued that “It involves the insurance that messages reach the
persons to whom they are sent, that the receivers understand and respond as we
want them to; and that people are able to understand, interpret, and respond to
messages that are sent to others” ( Urmila & Rai 2009). Communication for
instance can be verbal or non-verbal, and can be used with different tools. In
this busy world, communication plays an important role in people’s life either
in family, business, conferences, press meeting, schools, Universities,
community, friends or overseas. This paper will show how human beings
communicate using different tools in today’s world.
For instance, communication is used in different forms such
as verbal and non-verbal communication. Verbal communication can also be called
oral or written communication, where the sender uses words to communicate to
the receiver; in this case journalists, teachers, tutors, authors, and other
communicators are communicating by using the media of television, radio, books,
journal articles and newspaper. Verbal communication can also be used in
families, schools, church and communities where people are sending or
exchanging ideas verbally. Written communication can greatly extend the field
and powers of oral communication. Writing overcomes the limits of space and
time which confine speech; writing can be transmitted by different means, by
powerful electronic media over a greater distance, and can wait for the attention
of the receiver. While non-verbal communication is described as using symbols
like pictures, colours, or signs. Non-verbal communication can also include
gestures and sounds to express ideas. (Urmila & Rai. 2009).
Research has shown
how communication occurs through different tools such as mobile phones, the
World Wide Web, and social media. As said above, communication is used to
exchange information or ideas from sender to receiver, including feedback; this
process of communication can be done online where human beings can use the
internet to communicate with their fellows. Communicating through the internet
allowing people to get in touch with others regardless of geographic location
or time zone using different applications such as Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter,
LinkedIn, YouTube, and Myspace. (Sublet et al. 2011, p. 134) claim that the
internet is a prominent source of information on almost all topics of interest.
People now have the ability to search for nearly everything online through
search engines and websites, and connect through online communities with
friends, family, and others who share their interests. Social media allows
people to instantaneously share information across the globe and to develop
networks with individuals who they may never otherwise meet in person (Sublet
et al. 2011).
Additionally, young people especially adolescent use
electronic media to communicate among them. Research shows that adolescents are
seen to be using electronic media to communicate with their peers through
different electronic tools such as instant messaging, e-mail, and text
messaging, as well as communicating using internet sites such as blogs, social
networking, photo and video sharing sites such as YouTube, and interactive
video games. Subrahmanyam and Greenfield (2008, p. 120) argue that adolescents
have a vast array of electronic tools for communication among them, instant
messaging, cell phones, and social networking sites. These tools are changing
rapidly and are just as rapidly become independent of a particular hardware
platform.
As well as young people, families and organizations
communicate with others using electronic media. Communication in organisation is very
important, communication occurs in everything people do in organisation; (Amaritei
2013, p. 279) claim that Communication is present in everything people do.
People could not live or work without it. In organisation the word
communication does not only means send something to somebody, but it also means
being in relation with or relate to. Amaritei argued that when people
communicate, it is for the simple reason of having something in common with
other ones, to share some information, an idea, a feeling, and an opinion. The
author claimed that organisation theories regard communication as an essential
element as Chester prioritised communication in organisation claiming that
communication is the power which maintains the function of an organization and
coordinates its objectives to the employees’. (Amaritei, 2013).
In this case organisations
use internal and external communication to communicate; for internal
communication, organisations use the internet to communicate with employees
through emails, blogs, chat rooms, meetings and conferences. For external
communication they can use Facebook pages, blogs, e-petition and other social
networking utilities. It is the same for communication in families, these
people can use the internet to communicate through emails, Facebook. Furthermore,
communication in organisations is seen and experimented in everything which
people do, either in family, school or college, office, hobby group, community
group in the city or town. As (Urmila & Rai, 2009) argue that communication
is central to everything that human being do. People do things in organisations: family,
school or college, office, hobby group, community group, city town are the
organisation in which people live and act. The authors argue that, every
organisation, whatever its business or its size, is held together by
communication. Without communication an organisation cannot function at all. (Urmila
& Rai, 2009)
Another way of establishing communication is through the
mobile phone. Mobile phones help communicating with people who are at different
place; this same tool can allow communication through internet using emails, Facebook,
twitter. Quercia, Ellis and Capra (2010, p. 12) argue that adolescents no
longer have to sit in front of their personal computers to talk to friends ,
rather, they constantly communicate with each other via mobile social
networking applications. Research has shown that mobile phones and social
networking website are communication tools which technology has improved the
way people should communicate with others, and allow instant communication such
as voice call and text messages.
Similarly, communication can take place in many diverse ways;
adolescents for example use electronic media such as emails, instant messaging,
text messaging, chat room, Facebook and blogs to communicate among friends.
These communication tools are supported by various electronic hardware. The
more technology advances, the more these hardware are becoming multifunctional and
enable people to communicate usefully. For instance, email is no longer
supported by computers only, but can also be accessed through mobile phones;
and other communication forms such as YouTube can similarly be accessible on
both mobile phones and personal computers. (Subrahmanyam, 2008, p. 121)
This essay has shown how communication has impacted human’s
life from generation to generation, the way people are communicating using
different tools and media to exchange ideas from one person to another.
Communication as the nature of human being cannot be avoided, and are used in
everyday life, either in organisations, families, community groups or among
friends. These people communicate using different tools such as mobile phone,
internet or social media, television, radio, journals and newspaper. The more
technology advances, the more people communicate efficiently, using instant
messaging, text messaging, emails, blogs and chat room.
References
Amaritei, N. 2013, "COMMUNICATION", International
Journal of Communication Research, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 279 – 281.
Quercia, D., Ellis, J. & Capra, L. 2010, "Using
Mobile Phones to Nurture Social Networks", IEEE Pervasive Computing, vol.
9, no. 3, pp. 12-20.
Sublet, V., spring, C., Howard, J., Natl Inst Occupational
Safety Hlth & National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 2011,
"Does social media improve communication? Evaluating the NIOSH science
blog", American Journal of Industrial Medicine, vol. 54, no. 5, pp.
384-394.
Subrahmanyam, K. & Greenfield, P. 2008, "Online
communication and adolescent relationships", The Future of Children, vol.
18, no. 1, pp. 119-146.
Urmila, R & Rai, S. 2009, “Effective Communication”.
Mumbai, Himalaya publishing House, ProQuest ebray. P.1
